Mexico weekly ledger. (Mexico, Mo.) 1855-1956, 1887-12-15

Iignation within a month. Up t,
this time there had been no publ
city given the affair other than tha
which grew out Of what littl,
gossip had been mdulged in
and until then il had beer
"a secret-everybpdys secret
that harmony and good feeling die
mot reign supreme in the Christian
/ church in this city. With elder
Higbee's announcement the trouble
began to be talked generally by ev.
eryone, and it became known that 8
church trial would be the culmina.
ton of the difficulty. The trial
was set for Wednesday, to be held a,
the church, commencing at I
O'Clock. Rev. Mr.. Oldham, presi.
dent of Christian College, and DIR.
Lenoire, both of Columbia, and
j. B. Davis, Paris, were to be in at
tendance The lower room of the
church began to fill long before the
hour for the trial to open, and by
seven the seats were all occupied, a
large portion of the audience being
composed of ladies. Press repre-
sentatives were present upon invi-
tation and a few moments after
seven DR.. Lenoire addressed the
meeting. After a few words he
read a portion of the 14th chapter
of Corinthians, followed by an inn
pressive and appropriate prayer by
Ed. Oldham. DIR. Lenoire then
spoke of his long connection with
the Christian church as an elder
since 1S56-and of an extensive ex-
perience in matters relating to
church discipline. Ofall the cases
that had come under his notice,
this, he thought, was the most diff
ficult to understand; he earnestly
hoped for a peaceful adjudication
of the difficulty. While it was the
wish of the board of officers of the
church to have a full, open trial of
the matter, his experience had
taught him that it was not best,
and the court would adjourn to one
of the parlors of the church, there
to hear those who could testify on
either side.
The invitation to the press did
not cover an admittance to the
room in which the trial board met,
and the reporters were left in igno-
rance of what transpired there. All
that has been learned of the pro-
ceedings. however, is from a per-
fectly reliable source. One of the
factions is headed by Ed. Higbee,
the other by NJ. Y. Duncan. Most
of the charges against the former
were filed by the latter. Witnesses
on both sides are numerous, but the
names of all Immediately concerned
and who were in the court room
cannot possibly be learned, though
the following are known to have
gone into the room as soon as the
meeting was adjourned that night:
NJ. Y. Duncan, George Robertson,
J. f. Llewellyn, A. s. Houston,
J. A. Headington, L. Mundy, "
Marshall, James Garrett, Frank
Kilgore, j. J. Winscott, B. L.
Locke, P. w. Harding, DR.. Bas-
kett, DIR. Dodson, w. w. Settle,
w. s. Mosby, J. D. Morris, and the
court of three, of which DR.. Le-
noire was elected chairman. A. s.
Houston was appointed secretary.
The permanent officers of the
church are B. L. Locke, P. w.
Harding. DR.. Baskett, DR.. Dodson,
elders; J. T. Nelson, w, w. Settle,
w. H. Fl. Lee, WI. Mason, w.
s. Mosby, ]. D. Morris, Charles
Murray, deacons.
The testimony introduced by the
Duncan faction against Elder Hig-
bee was concluded that evening be-
fore the adjournment, and the
morning was taken up in hearing
testimony against Mr.. Duncan as a |
church-member. A great many
witnesses were examined and
much interest was taken, but
as q prominent member told al
reporter for this paper Thurs
day, the sensational gossip about
d permanent split being imminent is |
all ssstuff. =
The judges in the church trial
found Ed. j. W. Higbee innocent
on all the charges brought against